About Dennis Chighisola and his Coach Chic’s Hockey Secrets Program
Coach Chic’s Hockey Secrets is really just that, an online radio program that shares numerous tips, tricks and shortcuts aimed at helping hockey coaches, parents and adult players. In fact, much of what The Coach shares with listeners includes ideas or viewpoints most hockey folks have never before considered.
*
The seeds for a new kinds of hockey training sprouted in 1976, when Dennis Chighisola attempted to fill what he thought was a growing need in his home region, this being a skill oriented training program that included game-related skating, puckhandling, passing and shooting. The popularity of his early sessions grew such that Dennis ultimately expanded and operated some of the most successful hockey schools in the Northeast, with locations in MA, RI and PA. (Numerous former and current NHL-ers and hundreds of top college players were among Coach Chic’s students.)
In 1979, Coach Chighisola studied at the Institute for Physical Culture & Sport in Moscow of the old Soviet Union. And, as you’ll discover within his writings and podcasts, that eye-opening experience still influences the way he teaches today.
Dennis possesses a BS Degree in Physical Education & Coaching, with a Minor in Instructional Media, and he holds USA Hockey‘s highest certification as a Level 5 – Master Coach.
From the earliest days until present, he has also head coached every level of amateur hockey — Mites through Juniors, he spent 3-years as a high school head coach, another 7-years as a college head coach, and ended that chapter in his life with several minor league professional coaching/GM interviews.
Over a number of more recent years, Dennis ran Junior High School and High School Prep teams under the New England Hockey banner, with many of his students/players ultimately starring in local MA and RI schools. Modeled somewhat after what he’d seen at the special sports clubs around Moscow, weekly training included scientifically based off-ice and on-ice sessions, Russian-style dryland, and even in-line work.
Coach Chic still taught beginners until his recent move to Florida, and he’s worked with numerous pro players, which makes for a very interesting study. In other words, he firmly believes that working back and forth between the two extremes helps him gain greater insight into the way early training ultimately influences the older player — for the better, and for the worse.
Through the years, he has attended coaching seminars all over the hockey world, and he’s also been a popular guest speaker, especially in the areas of individual skills development and skating analysis.
Dennis has for many years penned advise columns for “Hockey/USA” and “PureHockey” (hardcopy) magazines, he frequently fields questions for several websites, and he’s authored several hockey training manuals.
He also has hosted a popular on-line radio show, Coach Chic’s Hockey Secrets.
Through the years, Coach Chic has invented a number of training aids — including the Skater’s Rhythm-bar, all of these used in-house, or within New England Hockey programs.
During the summer of 2013, Dennis accepted what he believed to be his dream job, as the GM/coach of a Junior team based in Kissimmee, Florida. The new league ultimately folded after a few months, but he fell in love with both the Junior level and the Sunshine State.
Today, he spends most of his time working on his Hockey Diary and a hockey advice website, plus a few new ventures — including the founding of Hockey Talk Radio.
Not done teaching yet, Dennis suspects he’ll someday get back to working with local players, but this time in Central Florida. Stay tuned.
Dennis really enjoys fielding questions, and he looks forward to listeners steering his future Coach Chic’s Hockey Secrets episodes. Please leave your comments below.
I just LOVE your show!
Thanks for that!
Hi Coach Chic
You are a wealth of true hockey knowledge! You have helped steer us in the right direction for our son. It all began when you introduced him to the fundamentals of hockey when he was just a little one. We value the advice you share and everyone who listens in will definitely be more educated. Thank you providing resources like this for us to continue learning.
Thank you so much, Janet! And, while I surely do miss all the great times while I worked up in MA and RI, I’m glad that I can at least keep sharing ideas and help from an awesome vehicle like online hockey podcasting.
I love your show. You have such knowledge about hockey & you truly care about making
people better hockey players.
Wow! Thanks for those kind words, Robi! I’ve been pretty selective about the other hockey podcast hosts here, too, so they’re all very knowledgeable guys and gals!
Love your insights of hockey! Keep up the good work!!
Thanks so much for that, Lori! And, God willing, I will keep my hockey podcasts coming.
Of all coaches whom I ever had contact with and who are still around, there are two I really respect: Vladimir Yurzinov and Dennis Chighisola.
Dennis obtained that kind of knowledge that scares all “coach wannabes” – You know, those guys who love being called “coach” so much that there is no energy nor time left for anything else.
Dennis has knowledge build of three parts:
– experiences long enough to start connecting dots (as in any profession, it never happens earlier then in 3;rd decade of work)
– experience build of working with wide variety of given profession (most guys do one and the same thing all their career long, Dennis did it all… or almost all)
– academical knowledge and the core of what all academics are about: how to evolve, develop and learn.
I value that kind of knowledge above all.
As we all know associations, federations and other big organisations are gangs of “coach wannabes” who not only feel bad in company of knowledge but also put all their energy to force people with knowledge to leave hockey.
This that You still have Dennis to listen to, is nothing short to real life miracle … don’t miss it.
🙂
This is one of the few times I am absolutely speechless, Andrej, and absolutely grateful for such kind words.
Coach,
You have mad skills when it comes to working with hockey players and passing along your knowledge and wisdom! I love the way you continue to be innovative and provide multiple avenues to get your help out to hockey players, parents and coaches!
Bravo!!
Dawn
🙂 Thanks so much for that, Dawn! Hopefully we will someday include a Mental Edge podcast in our programming, to raise Hockey Talk Radio’s level all the more!
Fabulous. This is a fabulous idea – hockey news on the go.. 🙂 What I would find useful would be a (perhaps weekly) programme schedule so that I had a rough idea when something is likely to be on…
I love the work you do to help all those hockey players & their parents & coaches.
Please keep up the good work. 🙂
P.
Thanks so much, Pauline — for the kind words, and for the great suggestion. Believe it or not, though, I have been trying for days to arrive at a way to show our program schedule online. I can look at in on the site’s dashboard, but it doesn’t translate to a page or post that is visible to site visitors. I’m not going to stop trying, however, because I know that would be a valuable addition to Hockey Talk Radio. Thanks again!
Way to go Coach……love it
Thanks so much, Tommy! I hope you like Hockey Talk Radio, and I hope you tell lots of hockey friends to stop in and give it a try.